Pakniat v Moor
192 A.D.3d 596, 145 N.Y.S.3d 30, 2021 N.Y. Slip Op. 01856
Appellate Division, First Department · March 25, 2021
What the court decided
An employee who lived and worked in Montreal sued under the State and City Human Rights Laws, alleging that the harassment and the decision to fire her happened in New York. The court held that this was "insufficient to plead impact" in New York under Hoffman, that the 2019 amendment directing liberal construction of the State law "has no bearing on" Hoffman, and that a New York forum-selection clause in her contract could not give the court jurisdiction. It acknowledged the growing number of remote workers "laboring in other states for New York firms," but said Hoffman barred it from expanding the laws to cover them.
Who won
The employer won. The Appellate Division unanimously affirmed the dismissal of her complaint.
Why it matters for workers with a medical condition
If you live and work outside New York, the fact that your employer is in New York, or made its decisions there, is not enough to use the State or City law.
Key passage: 192 A.D.3d 596 at 596-98.
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